NDC Construction Company

NDC Construction Company (NDC) has roots dating back to 1968, when the company first opened its doors in Pittsburgh, Pa. The business began as a development and property management company, with NDC standing for National Development Corporation. In 1999, Gary Huggins and Ronald Allen partnered up to reincorporate the business in 1999, shifting the focus to construction management and general contracting, while retaining components of development and property management.

Huggins has several decades of experience in the construction industry. He started out in college, working as a laborer during his summers to pay for his education at University of Florida. Huggins graduated with a degree from the college’s School of Building Construction and went on to join Centex Construction Group. He worked for the major homebuilder’s commercial division for 21 years before taking on his latest venture with Allen.

Today, Allen serves as president and Huggins serves as executive vice president. Together with a strong management team that includes Gary Esporrin, CFO, as well as the partners, who oversee 45 employees, all dedicated to quality projects throughout Florida. The business operates from a single location in Bradenton, Fla., serving a broad market.

Standing apart

“We operate one of the few companies in our local county that can take on contracts exceeding $50 million,” Huggins explains. “We are general contractors with development and property management branches, as well. Our crew offers a broad range of services, including tenant build-outs for properties that we manage, own and build. We can put the whole team together to build a project. We have the abilities and the relationships to pull together architects and individual trades for large and complex contracts.”

All of NDC’s work is negotiated with repeat clients that are typically end users. Huggins and his team strive to build lasting relationships with the owners and operators of every project. As time goes on, NDC continues to serve clients’ needs as operators of maturing facilities. The crew is constantly taking on new opportunities. The firm currently has several large projects in the works, including a 34,000-square-foot facility in Palm Bay, a 33,000-square-foot project in Sun City and just broke ground on a $13 million project in Bradenton.

A growing market for the team has been housing and care facilities for the elderly. NDC will be breaking ground this fall on a 34,000-square-foot housing project for a memory care organization in Tampa.

“The entire facility will be dedicated to memory care,” Huggins notes. “This is a 58-room, 78-bed facility for aging adults. We have a huge aging population in this country and especially in our state. Right now, there are not enough of these centers.”

Keeping busy

NDC has been involved with a wide range of projects in recent years. “They have their own personalities,” Huggins notes. “It’s hard to pick a favorite. We like learning what is important to each member of the team from the subcontractors all the way up to the operator of the facility. We like building a team of reliable, quality, competitive subs for each job. Every project has its own challenges and they are always different. We need to put together a team we can rely on. Often that means working with repeat subs, but we are always looking to expand our network.”

With strong partnerships from suppliers all the way up to clientele, the company has been able to remain steady in recent years. Huggins and his crew did face challenges throughout the economic downturn, but the business restructured to accommodate the shrinking market. “To get through it, we had to downsize,” he explains. “Our principals took a reduced salary, but for the most part, those who remained were happy to have work. We knew things would turn around eventually, we just didn’t know when.”

Now, Huggins says private work is on the rise. “I am really excited about the tremendous opportunities we have coming out of the recession,” he elaborates. “There are capital improvements coming up, more schools and senior care work on the horizon. The apartment market is on fire right now and we foresee healthy growth in that sector over the next five or so years.”

In order to take on these new opportunities, Huggins and his crew have established a pattern of steady, organic growth in the last couple of years. NDC has hired on a number of fresh graduates, many from the same program at University of Florida that Huggins graduated from. The growing young team is eager to take on the challenges of a growing market as NDC Construction Company continues to serve a broad market in Florida.